1. Field of the Invention
The surfaces of plastics, glass, ceramics, and fine steel present both in the home and in the work place are now cleaned almost exclusively with liquid cleaning preparations. However, conventional liquid all-purpose cleaning preparations tend to be limited in their fat- and soil-dissolving effect because, in general, only limited quantities of surfactants and complexing agents can be incorporated without risking product stability. Excessive levels of these fat- and soil-dissolving agents lead not only to products unstable in storage, but also to the occurrence of product residues in the form of streaks and specks on the surfaces thus cleaned.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In order to promote solubilization of fatty soil, while maintaining product stability, it is thus standard practice to include water-miscible solvents such as monohydric and polyhydric alcohols, glycols, glycol ethers and glycol ether acetates in conventional liquid cleaning preparations. These water-miscible solvents act on the one hand as solution promoters for surfactants present in the cleaning preparations, and, on the other hand, also themselves provide advantages in the cleaning of fat- and oil-soiled surfaces.
The incorporation of fat-dissolving and odor-generating terpenes in liquid all-purpose cleaning preparations for these purposes is also known. For example, European patent application EP No. 80,749 describes liquid cleaning preparations containing surfactants, water-soluble builders, water-soluble solvents, terpenes, and also 2-(2-butoxyethanol)-ethanol. Combinations of surfactants, water-soluble builders and water-soluble solvents with mono- or sesquiterpenes and polar solvents having a solubility in water of from 0.2 to 10% by weight, preferably benzyl alcohol, are the subject of European patent application EPO No. 106,266 and European patent EP No. 40,882.
European patent application EP No. 137,616 describes a conventionally-formulated liquid cleaning preparation which contains at least 5% of a fat-removing solvent and from 5 to 50% of a fatty acid or soap comprising a stable oil-in-water microemulsion having a pH value of 6.5 or higher. The fat-removing solvent comprises a mixture of an apolar solvent (terpenes, iso-C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 -paraffin oils, C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 -alkylbenzenes or liquid olefins) and a polar solvent (benzyl alcohol, diethylphthalate, dibutylphthalate or 2-(2-butoxyethanol)-ethanol. Cycloalkanes (cyclohexane and naphtha) are also mentioned as solvents.
Swiss Pat. No. 160,446 relates to a process for the production of a cleaning paste which dissolves and absorbs soil and fat comprising an emulsion containing carbon tetrachloride, decalin, hexalin, olive oil and water admixed with a suspension of rice starch in water to form a white emulsion; sodium hydroxide and water are then added in a quantity sufficient to obtain a white paste containing no more than 0.5% free alkali after saponification of the olive oil.
A preparation for dissolving and dispersing solidified deposits of combustion residues on machines or machine components, particularly internal combustion engines, is described in East German Pat. No. 34,996. The preparation comprises an emulsifiable liquid mixture containing in all from 12 to 23 parts by weight of a mixture of ammonium and calcium alkylbenzene sulfonates, from 50 to 70 parts by weight of hydrogenated naphthalenes, and from 10 to 20 parts by weight of technical pyridine bases.
SU patent No. 1 145 027 relates essentially to a bar of soap containing from 90 to 95 parts by weight of soap, from 0.5 to 1 part by weight of polyacrylamide, from 1.5 to 3 parts by weight of decalin and from 3 to 6 parts by weight of gall.